


Leverage, Season 2, Episode 4, The Fairy Godparents Job

by TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer



Category: Leverage
Genre: Analysis, Episode Review, Episode: s02e04 The Fairy Godparents Job, Meta, Nonfiction, Season/Series 02, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:00:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24477592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer
Summary: Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode and the rest of the series. Complete.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Leverage, Season 2, Episode 4, The Fairy Godparents Job

Open to a man carrying an unconscious little girl to a locked free clinic. Seeing this, a medical woman inside demands a security guard open the door. Going out, she helps deal with the little girl’s asthma.

Next, she’s talking to Nate in the pub. The clinic is literally out of time and money due to a ponzi scheme the BGotW pulled. Parker comes over, and bless her, she’s trying to be sociable and build empathy with the client. The client explains the BGotW’s stepson goes to a private school that she works at as a nurse.

The client leaves, and Nate wonders where Sophie is.

Getting dumped by her boyfriend is the answer. I’ve heard this actor was maybe supposed to be a recurring character, and I wonder if the character would have come across differently here if those plans had come through. The character doesn’t ping any alarms here. Though a little abrupt, he’s relatively gentle but honest in explaining, for all he likes Sophie, he doesn’t feel as if they’ve ever really achieved a true emotional connection due to her never truly opening up to him.

Whether he knows her well enough to discern she never will or if she simply chooses not to convince him to give her time that she knows will ultimately be wasted on his part isn’t clear, but he leaves with her not stopping him.

In headquarters, Eliot is trying to read and drink his coffee/tea, but Hardison is insistent about showing off his newest invention.

Nate and Parker come back, and they start the meeting without Sophie. Parker is cutely perched on the arm of Eliot’s chair. The BGotW is under house arrest, but he does have 20 million dollars hidden somewhere.

Sophie comes in, and Parker’s future husbands try to communicate with her via facial expressions she shouldn’t have brought up the fact Sophie was out with her boyfriend, especially in front of Nate.

Next, both she and Eliot are impressed with Hardison hacking into the cameras so that they can all watch the penthouse.

Creepy but impressive.

They all feel bad when the BGotW yells at his stepson for losing the phone that BGotW bought for him. They talk about the kid, and it’s worth noting if this kid wasn’t privileged, Hardison saying he’d never been arrested and didn’t have any outstanding warrants wouldn’t be as no duh as Team Leverage makes it out to be. Juvenile detention centres in America are packed, often with POC, minority, and/or mentally ill kids, and some are younger than ten.

Team Leverage decides they’ll get BGotW out of the house by getting the kid involved in some sort of tournament at school so that BGotW will be issued a day-pass to go see him participating.

How do they know for sure this would work? It doesn’t seem BGotW cares at all about his wife’s kid. He could’ve just been, ‘Nah, I’m adjusting fine to confinement in my penthouse, and there’s a sports game I’m planning on watching live.’

One interesting thing about the wife of BGotW is it’s never suggested she’s actively complicit in what BGotW did or bad for staying with him. She clearly loves her son, but whether she loves BGotW or not isn’t clear, and at the end of the episode, she’s gotten a job since BGotW can no longer support them. Still, I wish a little more of her POV on all this had been explored.

Next up, Team Leverage takes over Dalton Academy with Nate as a ridiculous principal and Sophie and Eliot as teachers.

Fun fact: according to IMDb, the child actor playing BGotW’s stepson will eventually show up in Glee as a Warbler in Dalton Academy.

Meanwhile, Hardison and Parker are trying to rent a condo in the same building as BGotW, and Parker is more interested in testing out the air vents than talking to the realtor. Heh.

In Nate’s temporary office, Eliot voices his hesitation about using a kid to get to a mark, but Nate disagrees they’re doing so. Sophie declares they’re being fairy godparents.

It turns out, though, the kid has two settings: He’s either bad at stuff, or he’s decent but surrounded by kids who are better. He sucks at fencing, no judgement from me, and he’s able to spell all the easy words Sophie gives him, but there’s an adorable little girl who easily spells all the extremely hard words Sophie throws at her.

After Sophie’s class is dismissed, she talks to the kid, and it’s revealed he used to have friends, but now, everyone’s mad at him for what his stepfather did.

Back with Parker and Hardison, instead of using a chair or step/footstool or ladder, Parker is using Hardison’s back to plant a motion detector. Neither is happy, him because he has a full grown adult putting all her weight on his back, and her because he’s unsteady underneath her feet.

The elevator dings, they hide, and it’s shown McSweeten and Taggert are on the case.

Parker and Hardison save the BGotW from a gunman, and not realising this just happened, M&T just think the two are doing undercover work as their secret backup.

When they leave, McSweeten says, “Imagine having her as a partner.”

Hurt, Taggert responds, “You want to see other partners?”

I don’t know if this was planned or just another thing Leverage predicated, but this is the last episode Taggert is in.

Back in headquarters, Nate is frustrated. “You two couldn’t rig a gym class and spelling bee, and you two, you run into the only FBI agents on the planet that recognise you.”

Hardison and Eliot bicker, and Parker has done a drawing of the gunman. Eliot tries to get himself on FBI duty with his future spouses, but no dice.

Sophie notices the kid singing on the monitor, and they all realise he’s good.

The next day, the adorable little girl is singing about fusion, and Sophie is impressed with her making it up on the spot. The other kids are wondering what kind of idea singing about their science projects even is.

Question: Wouldn’t the science fair itself be enough?

Back with the real and fake agents, the former continues to fully trust the latter are who they say they are. BGotW is annoyed with all of them for being in his house.

Over to the school, Principal Nate makes it clear there will be no judging kids for the sins of parents in his school, and Sophie’s decision to give BGotW’s stepkid an important role in the science fair-slash-musical won’t be overturned.

Meanwhile, Eliot is training a bunch of little girls how to take down one of the best hitters in the world. Sure, I don’t believe for a second he would have gone down like this if he didn’t intend to, but these little girls are going to be so proud of themselves, and what he’s teaching might well help them take down an actual threat someday.

Back in the office, Nate and Sophie talk, and it’s clear Sophie genuinely wants to help make the kid’s life better.

Over with the various agents, McSweeten and Taggert have brought coffee, but Parker mistakes the former’s for hers. The real agents assume the fake agents will be coming with them to the school.

At the school, the kid has stage fright.

Meanwhile, it’s eventually decided the real agents plus Parker will go to the school, and Hardison will stay behind to do FBI things. Parker isn’t exactly down with this, but Hardison points out, “Agent McSweetheart will go wherever you go.”

Props to Taggert for originally being willing to stay in Parker’s place when McSweeten turned on the puppy dog eyes.

Back at school, Sophie and the kid bond some more, and it’s shown Hardison is breaking into the BGotW’s penthouse. Parker’s talking him through it is a little complicated, though, due to her having to have a conversation with McSweeten at the same time.

Hardison doesn’t find what he’s looking for, and Eliot spots a thug lurking around the school.

On-stage, a different adorable little girl is singing about clouds.

Nate realises the BGotW is planning to kill Leverage’s two pet FBI agents, and then, they all realise he stole his stepson’s phone to arrange this.

Eliot fights a thug, and it’s discovered one of the angry parents is actually an accomplice of the BGotW.

Finally, the kid gets on stage, and he does well.

Meanwhile, Sophie is fussing at Eliot and a thug to keep their fighting off the stage! Hee.

When everyone’s applauding, Nate steals BGotW’s bag. He and Hardison talk about BGotW and his accomplice, Eliot and Sophie steal incriminating evidence from the accomplice that they reveal to the whole school, and tripping the BGotW so that Taggert can cuff him, Principal Nate just hands the FBI the bag further incriminating BGotW.

Backstage, getting free from Eliot, the accomplice tries to stop Sophie, but cuffing him, McSweeten admonishes, “That’s no way to treat a lady.”

Later, Nate visits the reopened clinic to give the nurse some money, and BGotW’s wife/possibly ex at this point is established to be working there now.

Then, Nate and Sophie talk, and he suggests she might consider letting people know the real her.

She makes it clear: No, not happening.

Fin.


End file.
